Fire On The Mountain by Chris Benchetler, with the addition of rare behind-the-scenes footage, on Wednesday, October 28 at 8 p.m. ET and on ABC on November 22 at 4 p.m. ET.
- Fire On The Mountain is narrated by Hall of Fame basketball player and ESPN sportscaster Bill Walton, with music supervision by David Lemieux, audiovisual archivist and legacy manager for the Grateful Dead.
- The short film features some of action sports’ most legendary athletes, including:
- Snowboarding’s Jeremy Jones, Danny Davis, Kimmy Fasani
- Surfing icon Rob Machado
- Skiers Michelle Parker and Chris Benchetler.
- The short film was captured over the course of the winter by cinematographer Tyler Hamlet of Flagship Independent.
- Produced and Directed by Benchetler and Hamlet, this visual journey features never before seen footage within nature, orchestrated by music of the Grateful Dead.
- The film also features original artwork by Benchetler and Skye Walker.
- The film’s title is taken from the Grateful Dead song “Fire On The Mountain,” off the band’s album “Shakedown Street,” released in November 1978.
- Mickey Hart and Robert Hunter collaborated to create the song, which was first performed live at Winterland on March 18, 1977.
- The film also opens with a new original composition by the Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart and Zakir Hussain called, “In The Beginning There Was Fire”.
What they’re saying:
- Hall of Fame basketball player and ESPN sportscaster Bill Walton: “Recently, while shadow boxing the apocalypse, and wandering the land, I came upon the creation of the world, and the birth of fire. I quickly spiraled round and round, and was immediately sucked into the vortex of Fire On The Mountain —The Movie. It has become a harmonic convergence of the highest order, bringing together the best of the best of the best—of everything, with as fine a group of young, dynamic, action-figure super-heroes, as there is in the known universe. Like me, they love the edge, nature, the groove, rhythm, sport, and the culture and rhythmic beat of the Grateful Dead. The new young guys asked me to speak. I channeled everyone and everything I’ve known in my now 53 years with the Grateful Dead. Mickey Hart, there from the beginning, led a responsive charge to my call to action. The result is Fire On The Mountain—The Movie, as great a project and team, driven by glorious purpose and song, as I’ve ever been a part of.”
- Filmmaker Chris Benchetler: “This is a project of people, places, and conditions all woven together, gaining momentum and adapting as Mother Nature orchestrates her plans—going with the snow, following the swell. The Grateful Dead’s improvisational style lends itself to that same flow. Letting a moment in time and space take over, collectively sharing that experience, while the music blazes its course. This project has been about the appreciation for Earth, self-discovery, open-mindedness, and the improvisational jam of life. We’re so excited for it to be airing on the home of sports, ESPN.”